Longport Borough Hall
LONGPORT – In his report to the Board of Commissioners Wednesday, Dec. 4, Administrator Scott Porter informed commissioners and the public that mold remediation in Commission Chambers would begin on Friday, Dec. 6.
Mold quickly developed in the Borough Hall meeting room on the ground level and in the Centennial Room on the second floor after a power outage one weekend in August. Additionally, there are asbestos tiles under the worn carpeting in both rooms that must be safely removed during the mold remediation process.
The contractor, All Risk Property Damage Experts will be removing furnishings and moldy carpeting before another company comes in on Monday to remove asbestos tiles under the carpeting.
The process will take three or four days, Porter said.
An air quality report will be done before All Risk comes back in to do the mold remediation, which should take four or five days, he said.
“If all goes well, sometime near the next commission meeting on Dec. 18, this will all be done,” he said.
Afterward, new hard surface flooring, which is recommended for the ground level, will be installed and new furnishings purchased and installed, including chairs. The dais will remain, he said, but it will be cleaned to remove any mold.
The Police Department has been evicted from the moldy area at the rear of Borough Hall and will operate out of construction trailers in the Police Department parking lot.
Porter said the company that delivered the trailer sent the wrong one and it will be switched out for new trailers that are equipped according to the police chief’s specifications and installed in a yet-to-be-determined location in the parking lot.
In other business, the board approved salary and wage increases for members of the Public Works Department. Employees will receive a 3.1% increase for 2019, 1.9% in 2020 and 2.5% in 2021 on two different wage scales: one for employees hired before Jan. 1, 2016 and another for those hired after that date.
It also introduced an ordinance setting salaries for employees not covered under union contracts, including the commissioners, police chief, administrator, planning and zoning officials, members of the Fire Department along with emergency services duty crews, Beach Patrol, Office of Revenue and Finance, and certain employees in the Public Works Department.
A public hearing on the ordinance will be held 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18.
